Crimes of the father(metaphorically speaking)
by BendyOrendi
Summary: Nearly a decade after Annie escaped from the crystal the survey corps came for her again. She had a life, a child, but everything was destroyed in the course of a morning. This story follows that child, Mina, as she grows after her life was stolen from her for the crimes of her mother. Will humanity trust her when the titans attack again? Cross posted on Ao3.
1. The breakdown of normality

**Okay some things to explain:**

 **-the language and tone will shift and change depending on the character being focused on, for instance, while Mina is a child the language will be simple and odd, if I chose to focus on Ymir it would be blunt and harsh and so on (just an experiment)**

 **-the first chapter will probably be confusing because I just dotted stuff down, it is also a very chaotic chapter.**

 **-I'm still at school and stuff and I'm irresponsible so I have nothing planned out, updates will be infrequent.**

 **Lastly please enjoy :)**

 **Chapter 1: The breakdown of normality**

Annie sighed, staring up at the cracked ceiling in disdain, she never did like mornings. Outside her window, the sun had barely risen and the sky was bathed a light orange. It wouldn't be long now unti- The small body curled against her stirred and Annie smiled, until that. The small blonde child looked up from the pillow she was asleep on and smiled brightly. Annie's heart fluttered, Mina was a ray of sunshine in the mornings, so happy to see her again despite seeing her the night before, all smiles and cute squeaks and yawns; Annie couldn't resist gently running her hand through her child's hair.

This had become normal since Mina was born, before that Annie had been alone for a very long time, trapped and waiting for an opportune moment. She found it when some fifty years after she'd protected herself in the crystal, they lightened security. Jaeger had stopped coming to stare at the crystal and Mikasa had been promoted to leader of her squad. She picked an unfortunate time to have escaped, Ackerman's squad returning through the gate just as she shattered her crystal.

Of course they had tried to stop her, and of course Annie was not one to be stopped, wiping out the entire squad bar Mikasa herself. She had lived in the city for a year before getting away to the furthest reach within the walls. Mina was born not long after.

"Morning, Mommy." The child greeted and Annie hugged her close, smiling at the giggles erupting from Mina's small chest.

"Good morning, baby girl." She hummed despite Mina being six already and insisting that she wasn't a baby anymore. She'd always be Annie's baby, from the time she held the little bloody bundle she delivered herself, until the little girl left her to marry some guy or girl Annie refused to like (nothing would be good enough for Mina in Annie's eyes). "Let's go get breakfast, then we'll brush our teeth. You gonna help me again this morning?" She prodded and Mina nodded affirmative, scrambling out of the bed. They made it together in silence -neither being really talkative on their own accord- and Annie lifted Mina on to her shoulders, Mina holding onto her mother's hair gently.

It was early winter, snow hadn't yet fallen but the grass of the fields outside was frosted over, looking like a white blanket, stretching as far as the eye could see. As they walked into the kitchen their breaths became little white puffs, Annie made a note to get a fire going before heading out to feed the horse. When Mina started lightly shivering, Annie grabbed the closest article of clothing to them, her old grey hoodie that sat draped over a stool next to the kitchen table. She wordlessly offered it to Mina who squeaked happily, pulling it on over her PJs. "Better?" Annie asked her and Mina nodded again with a cheerful 'yes ma'am!' That had Annie chuckling warmly.

Mornings saw the best time to do things with Mina as Annie ran their little patch herself and was often busy working outside, leaving Mina to draw or read. As for mornings? Mina helped her cook."Mommy, what are we making today?" She asked and Annie had to think, the chickens had laid a couple of eggs the day before and they still had some tomatoes and onions left over from when they collected them a couple of days prior, so omelettes sounded good, filling too.

"Omelettes, can you get the onion on that shelf over there?" She asked, taking the child over to the shelf she meant. Mina retrieved the vegetable and held it down, Annie blinded by the overlong sleeves of her hoodie, she took the onion with a grateful smile and lifted Mina off her shoulders. "Why don't you go draw a little while I cut this, you don't want to cry do you?" She teased and Mina shook her head, shuffling out of the kitchen, Annie's hoodie like a dress on her.

The first sign that something wasn't right was a knock on their door, Annie had located herself in the furthest regions of wall Maria to avoid people, all that surrounded their house was miles and miles of fields, so there was no reason for visitors. She was about to get the door herself, but what happened next was a disorienting blur, Mina answered because Annie had never thought to teach her about answering doors to strangers - there had been no need - and suddenly there was chaos as a bunch of people suddenly streamed into the kitchen. All in their white and brown uniforms, all donning the survey corp's insignia on their green cloaks.

Annie panicked, heart in her throat and ears burning, she couldn't focus on the shouts of 'put the knife down!' Or 'surrender now!' Everything had happened so fast, one second she was about to chop an onion, the next she was being threatened with swords. Her head was spinning when her daughter's scared squeak of 'mommy!' reached her and that was all she needed. Eyes narrowing she shot past the nearest guy, swinging her knife into the guy's neck and scooping Mina up into her arms in one fluid motion, ignoring the explosion of noise behind her. She had to get Mina away from these people, she had to live because Mina needed a mom, and a life past what the survey corps would give her, if they'd even let her live. She gritted her teeth at the thought of anything happening to her daughter.

She made it outside before there was an explosion of smoke and her chest constricted in panic, because of course Eren was still alive, she was, Ymir was, and of course they brought him, Ackerman probably sent him herself. She clutched Mina to her chest and found a goal, lifting her hand to her mouth a lot like Eren did. 'Protect Mina, do anything you can to protect her, shield her.' And she bit, for the first time in almost a decade she turned into her titan. And despite the shell of her titan body around her, Mina was still clutched to her human chest, shielded behind the bone and flesh of her titan. Eren was still intimidating, especially when he roared, the sheer volume shaking the ground, but, instead of cowering, Annie countered his roar with her own, the scream sounding as desperate as her human one would've; and reminiscent of another time.

She was outmatched and she was aware of it, she hadn't fought or even trained in six years, her movements felt out of touch and awkward, if she stayed she knew she'd die, so she turned and ran, much like she had the last time she faced him. Eren chased after her in some weird sense of Déjà vu, but this time wouldn't end the same, Annie would not allow it. The running idea didn't last long, she was caught more easily than she would've liked, but she wasn't giving up that easily and she wasn't dead until they cut her from the Titan's neck.

He slammed her into the ground harshly, nearby trees toppling at the tremors, his breath was rushing past her face, his teeth bared and ready to go for her Titan's neck. Not ready to give up -she had been caught in this position many years ago- she hardened her hand and threw a punch hard enough to daze him, then she threw another and another until his bones were cracking and face was disfigured under her fist, steam blinding him. She flipped them and with the rage still rushing through her veins she went for his neck, teeth ripping into flesh until she saw his stupid brown hair and his stupid angry face; always ruining her life.

'You shouldn't have come after me, Mikasa isn't around to save you anymore' She roared angrily -like he did when the positions were reversed- and his blood clouded her mouth with an aching, final snap of her jaws. Instead of calming her like killing him probably should have, Annie felt another stab of panic, pain shooting through her arm, her neck! The Titan's neck! The realisation came too late as she was being wrenched from her huge body still clutching Mina tight to her chest desperately. She was dead, so very dead, Mina was crying into her chest when they forced her down, a heel of a boot pinning her head. They didn't even bother grabbing Mina before Annie felt the cold steel to her temple, and the last thing she could do was bury her daughter's face in her shoulder so she wouldn't have to see this.

"Mina, mommy loves y-" and then everything was black.

/

Mina was scared, her mommy was trembling against her and was holding her so tight. Mina had never seen her mommy so scared, not when bugs got into the house or when she broke her arm out in the garden last year, her mommy was never scared. But here she was in her mommy's arms while her mommy cried, she wished she could see her, but she was holding Mina too tight, she couldn't even move. "Mina, mommy loves y-" there was a sharp sound and the hold disappeared and Mina felt cold all of a sudden, like something was wrong in the pit of her tummy.

When the scary men started pulling Mina away from her mommy she didn't hold on, not like she was, her mommy wasn't holding her anymore. Something hot and sticky ran down Mina's face when she was pulled away from her mommy. When she rubbed it off it looked like blood; that was when she started crying. Her mommy's pretty blonde hair was scarlet red, and so was the frosted grass where they were laying, and so was Mina. Was she hurt? Why wasn't she moving? Mina called for her when a man hoisted her over his shoulder, the calling turning desperate when they started pulling her mom away.

"Stop mister! What's wrong with Mommy!?" She begged the man carrying her but he never budged. They put her on a horse and her mom and another still man with wrapped in a jacket on a cart and no matter how hard she fought the big men didn't let her go. "What did you do to mommy?" She begged again, eventually just breaking down and hiding her face in her hands. Was this her fault? Was her mommy hurt because she let the men in? They were bad men but Mina didn't know that, they were smiling when they asked her where her mommy was, they seemed friendly.

Mina didn't stop crying for a long time, not until they got to a place with many houses, and more people than Mina had ever seen in her life. Some people looked at her, some people looked at the cart her mom was in, some looked happy and some looked sad, some even looked angry when they saw her and Mina felt like she was going to cry again. They were riding for a very long time before they stopped at a castle, big and impressive looking, like something out of her books.

The man who carried her before carried her again into the big building and she didn't fight him this time. Eventually they stopped in a very big room with two big chairs at the end of it, on one sat a small woman with greying hair, she looked old but she had pretty blue eyes and pretty clothes, even a crown like in her story books. On the other chair sat a tall woman who looked as old as mommy, she had brown hair and yellow eyes, her skin was dark and she was very scary, even if her clothes looked normal.

Mina didn't understand what the grownups were talking about, but thought she should listen anyway because it sounded important. "We found her your majesty, in the fields of Maria, she resisted arrest and took out Jaeger, we managed to subdue and execute her while she was busy with him." What was a Jaeger? Mina was too scared to ask, and is that why they were out in a field? Her mom took them out? Why?

"What's with the kid?" A voice asked, a woman who sounded angry, Mina couldn't hold in a whimper and everyone went quiet for a second. Were they mad?

"Your majesty, we didn't know what to do with her." The man carrying her said and this time Mina held her whimper.

There was shuffling and then it sounded like someone was moving, when the next voice came it was right behind her (in front of the man.) "Put her down." It was a soft voice, and it sounded old, but the order sounded like when her mom told her to take a bath - no argument allowed. The man put her down in front of the greying lady and Mina held her hands over her mouth in fear to stop any more whimpers.

"She looks just like her.." The scary woman said, and Mina could see she was staring at her, yellow eyes wide, still sitting in her big chair.

"Is she hurt?" The lady asked and the men shook their heads with a 'no ma'am' "so the blood is Annie's?" She asked, and her voice got really scary. "What were you thinking!?" She then snapped and Mina covered her eyes in fear. "You executed a child's mother in front of her!? Are you heartless?" She sounded so mad and Mina was too scared, she sat and hid her face in her knees.

"Historia, please, your heart." The scary woman spoke softly this time, sounding closer. "And you're scaring the kid." She added and there was another silence. There was a little bit of rustling but Mina didn't dare look until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the face of the old lady, on her haunches in front of Mina, the scary lady standing beside her, looking down at them.

"Hey, what's your name? How old are you?" She asked and Mina felt like she needed to be brave to talk to the woman, after all she was being nice right? But the men were also nice..

'Hey there sweety, Where's your mama?' They asked, smiling, ruffling her hair.

Mina blinked and took her hands away from her mouth nervously. "M-mina, I'm six and a half." She told them, watching a glazed look cross both of their features. Was her name bad?

"That's a pretty name, Mina. I'm so sorry that today was so scary for you, my name is Historia, do you know who I am?" She asked and Mina was scared, she didn't know, would that make her mad? Still her mommy told her to be honest so she shook her head no.

"Your majesty, she could be a titan. We have to execute her, just in case." As soon as the man behind her said this the little old lady stood back up with an angry look.

"She's a child! A war criminal is one thing, but we will not kill her child just for being born!" She hissed and Mina's eyes widened at the word. Killed? That was when things were made dead. She remembered back to her mommy lying on the ground full of blood, white frost stained red, and covered her face a sudden cry coming from her, her mommy was dead, they made her mommy dead. That's why she let go and let the man take her. She was suddenly hoisted into the air and pressed against someone but she didn't look, only cried against the hard chest, her mommy was gone forever.

"Ymir, please take her away." The lady said but the person holding her was already moving out of the room.

The scary lady wasn't so scary it seemed, she hugged Mina and tried to get her to stop crying, it took a long time, hours even, but she didn't get mad, only let Mina cling to her. The lady named Historia appeared when Mina was nearly asleep, having cried to exhaustion, and by now the sun was beginning to set outside.

"She's cried herself hoarse, what do you want us to do?" Ymir asked her and Historia sighed, it was a long tired sound that her mommy made sometimes, but Mina couldn't see because her eyes were closed.

"I managed to compromise with them. I told them that she could be a useful asset to learn more about titans, after all we don't know how children work when it comes to them unless you can enlighten me." She looked at Ymir who shrugged although she also looked down at the kid in her lap.

"She's a wildcard if Annie had her with a human, if she had her with another titan shifter then I could tell you all you need to know, but halfies are normally destroyed at birth, she could be anything.." A few moments of silence.

"We can't keep her. There would be riots, uprisings, the public already doesn't like that I have you with me, and I'm too old to be negotiating out of public revolts." There was another short silence where Mina couldn't hear anything. "You were about to suggest it, I'm sorry, Ymir." There was another sigh.

"I wasn't about to suggest anything, she just.. She looks like Annie."

"She does. Look, the best thing I can do for her is assign the Hanji's daughter to her, she's ethical, and she'd treat the child right." She was shifted a bit and then the warm lap she was lying on was gone - Ymir had gotten up.

"It just feels wrong, she's a little kid, Annie obviously just wanted to live in peace, was it really necessary to go after her like we did?" This time the sigh was a little shorter, and higher, was Historia mad?

"Ymir, she wiped out Mikasa's entire team, you know she would have gone after her herself if she hadn't gotten ill like that. Eren gave us no choice, we couldn't have an angry titan rampaging around on his own accord. If I knew she had a child.. I think I might've been more adamant in leaving Annie alone. No child deserves to be raised without parents." Ymir grumbled, a low noise, but sounded as if she accepted Historia's words.

"Okay. Okay, when is she going?"

"Tomorrow morning."

She was lifted once more and cradled gently, and Mina opened her eyes slightly to see Ymir carrying her. Neither said anything, Mina simply staring, until they got into another room, this one dimly lit and warm. She was gently laid on a bed and the tall woman worked on tucking her in with a small crease between her brows. Before she finished however, she suddenly stopped and went into another alcove of the room, returning with a cloth and bowl of water. She cleaned the blood from Mina's face and hushed her gently when she began to cry again.

"Give me your hoodie, I'll get someone to wash it for you." She ordered and Mina listened, handing the bloodied hoodie over.

After Ymir had tucked her in, -too tightly- Mina stopped her with a small whine of 'miss?'. The tall woman stopped and looked back with that small crease still there. "You'd make a good mommy."

Ymir said nothing in response, lips twitching up slightly in a sad smile, but the crease was gone when she turned to leave. In the morning Mina found the hoodie at the end of the bed, clean and unbloodied, she put it on but noticed that it no longer smelled like her mommy. She cried until the guards came up to take her away.


	2. The unknown variable

She was taken to very big, very pretty room, there were paintings on the walls beside a long table with more chairs than Mina could count on her fingers, on the table were a jar with many pretty flowers - her mommy once told her the correct word for it, but Mina always forgot. At the very end of the table sat Miss Historia and the lady who took care of her the night before. When they noticed the guards beside her they waved them away.

"Good morning, Mina, will you come and sit with us?" Miss Historia asked, a warm smile on her face - it made Mina feel safe. The six year old made her way over to the chair beside Miss Historia, the lady from before sitting across from her. "Are you hungry?" She asked next and Mina wrapped her arms around her small stomach, nodding shyly.

"Breakfast will be served soon." The other lady finally spoke, she seemed preoccupied with a paper, but looked up to wink at Mina.

"Excuse me, miss.." Mina stuttered shyly, catching the dark-haired woman's attention again. "What may I call you?" Although she didn't mean to say something funny, the lady let out a bark of laughter, Miss Historia also letting out a small chuckle.

"Your Mommy sure taught you manners huh? Call me Ymir. I know it's a bit hard to pronounce, but if you struggle you can just call me Mir." She offered but Mina was already burning with another painful question.

"You knew my mommy?" She asked the two, who glanced at each other before answering.

"Child, did your mother ever tell you about what she was like before she had you?" Miss Historia asked and Mina shook her head 'no.' "Well, you see, she was in the same training class as Ymir and I. She fought Titans with us, to protect people. After we chose our sides we found out that she was a titan too - and that she had betrayed us. When people do bad things like that they need to be punished, but, your mom tried to run instead. She escaped after many many years and we had just found her location yesterday-"

When Mina looked confused, Ymir butted in. "We knew her a long, long time ago, she did bad things, but that doesn't mean she was always a bad guy, she raised you, and you are a good kid." She explained much more simply - Miss Historia seemed thankful.

They ate with small conversation, Mina discovered that Ymir was married to Miss Historia, and that made her a queen, and that Ymir was much older than miss Historia, even if she looked much younger. She discovered that she was going to be going to a place where another of their friends could take care of her and where she could be safe. She discovered that the thing from before was called a 'vase'.

When the guards came to take her away, both miss Historia and Ymir hugged her tightly and promised to visit her - Mina cried again but let the guards take her without a fight. For the second time in two days she was sitting on a horse while being taken to some scary unknown place, people staring at her with looks of plain hatred. Mina closed her eyes for the rest of the way. When they finally stopped, it was in front of a scary brick building and she was carried inside by the man from before.

They were greeted by an excitable woman with beautiful black hair. "Oh put the poor kid down!" She ordered the guards, bending down to look Mina in the eyes once she was on the ground again. "Hey there, I'm Hikari Zoë, you must be Mina, I have a little girl that looks to be your age - maybe you can be friends!" She stated cheerfully, but Mina just felt scared, her stomach rolling. "Come on, I'll show you to your room." She then ordered, holding out a hand for Mina to take. It was something her mommy used to do too.

She was lead down some stairs to a dark room, half of it was separated by iron bars, behind them was a bed with a table and chair next to it, with a few empty shelves scattered around the makeshift room. Really high up, there were broken chains fixed to the wall, there were some on the floor too - Mina wondered who was kept there before her - and if it was a bad guy.

"I know it doesn't look like much now, but I have some people going to pick up your stuff from your old room." Hikari said positively, looking down at Mina somewhat sadly. She leaned down again, to be in equal height with the small child. "Look, you've done nothing wrong, okay? You're not being punished, but your mom was very powerful and we don't know anything about you - people are scared of you, so they want you to be in the.." She paused, sighing. Instead of finishing her sentence, she hugged the child, scooping her up and letting her rest on her hip. "Is there anything you want from home?" She asked.

"My Mommy's books, as many as I can get, and the plant in her room. And my toys, please?" Mina mumbled from where her face was buried in Hikari's hair. The woman chuckled, louder when Mina hastily added 'and our blankets!'

/

It was a week later when Mina had first met Hikari's kid, woman had brought her along to meet Mina, and even let her go into Mina's room. Rosa was very much like her mom, her hair was black and somewhat messy, her eyes were bright and excited and the first thing she did was bound right up to Mina to give her a tight hug. The two were fast friends, so it wasn't long before the visits became an every day occurrence, with the two sitting on Mina's bed, talking or playing while Hikari watched over them.

"My mommy said that your mommy was a titan." Rosa had brought up one day, catching her mother's attention. Mina nodded at the question, still playing with the stuffed horse in her hands. "So does that mean you can also do titan things?" Mina looked up, thinking on it.

"I dunno, maybe, when I broke my arm last year, mommy said that it healed really fast." Unbeknownst to them, Hikari was scribbling this down in her journal, hoping to hear more on the subject she was disappointed however, when her daughter chose the wrong part of Mina's answer to focus on.

"Oh no! Did it hurt a lot? What happened?"

"Yes, I cried a lot, it was very scary. I fell of our horse, riding one without a saddle is really hard." Mina supplied, and that was the end of it - the two becoming distracted with their game.

Hikari liked to think that she was good with children, her own kid loved her, but she was never quite sure how to act around Mina, what to ask, how to ask it. When she had reported back to Queen Historia with very little information, the Queen had urged her to speed up her investigations. Many people were still on edge about the child, and needed more answers to what she was capable of than 'subject shows signs of accelerated healing.' So it was with a heavy heart that she started testing Mina - less like a child and more like a subject.

Rosa was a godsend for most of these tests, her daughter was Mina's personal cheerleader, even taking some tests with her. The first was just a simple endurance test, her mother was known for it after all. Rosa was healthy for her age, and had average endurance, but Mina? She ran laps around the field for hours more than Rosa, it seemed that her healing was indeed helping her endurance - allowing the child to push her limits over and over again. When she had finally stopped - it was because she had become dizzy. She had burnt as much energy as she could without collapsing.

Queen Ymir had visited sometime after this test, and listened with great interest as Mina excitedly told her about it, it warmed Hikari's heart - many of their circle knew by now how Ymir had longed for a child for many years, and seeing how she acted around Mina, it was bittersweet.

Ymir's visit seemed to motivate the child though, the next test - strength - had Mina pushing herself even further than before. Rosa was stronger than Mina, lifting more, having more strength behind her punches and kicks. Mina had become frustrated by her lack of strength though, and had pushed a bit too hard, allowing another test. The child broke her wrist during the test, and Hikari monitored her healing - it was very much like a Titan's, her wrist even steaming lightly. The next meeting with the Queen was supervised by a greying woman with a blood red scarf. Hikari had never had the opportunity to meet Mikasa Ackerman before then and she wished she hadn't.

Mikasa was serious, intense, she radiated power despite her age and demanded that she be allowed to observe the next tests with Mina. Really Historia couldn't refuse her - but Hikari wished she had. Mikasa was unsettling - terrifying - and ever since Annie Leonhardt killed Eren, rumours stated that she was even somewhat erratic - unpredictable. She showed up early- before Hikari could do anything to prepare Mina for the stranger - the girl was trying to read one of her mother's books at the time, only looking up from the difficult words she was concentrating on when Mikasa took a seat outside the cell.

The sudden fear was obvious and instant - completely instinctual, if the scientist didn't know any better she would think it was in her blood to fear Mikasa. Mina had jumped away from the bars of the cell, book in hand, making her way to her bed to get away from the woman in the red scarf. The child didn't say anything to Mikasa, didn't whimper, or look at her a second time, simply staring at her book without really reading - face red up to her ears.

"What will the test be today?" Mikasa had asked lowly, eyes never leaving Mina's shaking form.

"We-" Hikari began, but was cut off by the greying woman.

"It doesn't matter, you're going to see if she can transform." Hikari opened her mouth to protest but Mikasa settled her heavy gaze on her. "Are you about to question an order from your superior, miss Zoë?" A threat disguised as a question, Hikari was in no position to fight an order from the head of the survey corps. Instead, she bitterly looked at her shoes.

"No ma'am."

When Hikari had heard the rumours about Mikasa Ackerman losing her mind, she had thought that they were exactly that - rumours. Nothing could have prepared her for what the next test would be like. At first it was okay. They had taken Mina to an open field not unlike the one they used for her endurance tests, a large tarp at the end of it; and had asked her to transform. The child was confused, needing explanation - and even then she had no idea what they were talking about. Hikari was ready then to accept the test as inconclusive, Mina had no idea what a titan looked like, only that they had abilities humans didn't. She had never seen her mother transform - she had told Rosa that much once before.

Mikasa, however, was unwilling to end the test there.

"There are different ways to trigger transformation." She had stated in a growl. "Annie was known for her survival instincts, I am sure that the child has them too, we just need to scare them out of her." Hikari was glad that she had left Rosa at home, for what happened next. As if she had expected the test to go like this, Mikasa gave a signal and the tarp was lifted to reveal a titan in a cage, only a small one, but no less dangerous than any other titan.

"What are you doing?" Hikari had demanded, ignored completely.

"That is a titan!" Mikasa had barked, at Mina, the terrified child staring at the caged beast with wide, unfocused eyes. "If it gets you, it will eat you!" She explained slowly so that Mina would understand clearly. Hikari felt sick, Mikasa wouldn't really release it, right? It had to be a bluff. "If you do not transform within the next minute, I'll let it go, and it'll come for you."

"This is unnecessary, she is a child!" Hikari tried once more, only for Mikasa to whirl around to face her, face impassive, but eyes murderous.

"You have a daughter at home, if you want to go back to her, I'd suggest mounting your horse."

The conflict was unbearable, she couldn't let this happen, but Mikasa was right. She had a daughter, Rosa needed a mother, if Hikari had her gear with her then she would have had the option of staying - but if she stayed as it was now, the titan... She mounted the horse, Mikasa watching her coldly. "I am going straight to Queen Historia about this, ma'am. There is no justification for treating a child like this, not even if her mother was a criminal."

With a heavy heart, determination, and one last look at Mina, who was cowering with her eyes squeezed shut, Hikari turned and spurred her horse forward.

 **Right-o, Mikasa. Now in any other story or situation I'm trash for Mikannie, however that obviously would not work in this case. Looking at canon material, each time Eren's (or Armin's) death is teased, Mikasa goes... Er wonky. For the sake of avoiding spoilers for anime only fans, I will leave out the most recent situations where we see this in the manga (as the anime might one day get there), but she is always out for blood - recklessly so.**

 **Although I have not specified where Armin is in this story, I think it's safe to say that Mikasa most definitely would NOT be okay after the death of Eren, and since Annie is dead, who can she take it out on?**

 **It may not even be that obvious in her own brain, perhaps she's deluded, maybe she's looking for justification, or maybe she's just old.**

 **Anyway thanks for reading :)**


	3. The inner strength

**Went on a writing binge yesterday, I have a good amount done on the next chapter and I had this one down.**

 **Anyway things will be picking up soon, if anyone is even reading this and is wondering when the story will really begin.**

 **Enjoy**

Mina had not died. But as she sat, the child curled up in her lap, face buried in her shoulder, Ymir could not help but be furious. She had not stopped shaking since Ymir had scooped her up and held her close. She was already on her way to see that day's test (Mina had been begging her to come to one) when she had spotted a frantic Hikari. When the scientist had explained what was going on - well Ymir hadn't moved that fast in a very long time.

By the time she had arrived at the site, Mikasa was standing over the little girl, sword out and steaming, titan corpse behind her. She had marched right up to the two, Mina charging up to her and hiding behind her legs, tiny hands clinging to her jacket. Ymir hadn't shouted then, quite calm while the child was still frightened out of her wits. "Mikasa." She had said, voice shockingly cold. "I expect you in front of Historia and I before the end of the afternoon." With that, she turned and pulled Mina up, into her arms, the child clinging to her tightly.

She hadn't been the one to reprimand Mikasa, that was Historia, her tiny wife handling the situation with controlled anger. They had put Mina under the Zoë girl's care so that she would be safe and cared for.

"When we had offered you compassionate leave, you assured us that you had your emotions and grief under control." Historia had reminded. "You declined, saying that you did not need time off." Mikasa did not argue, face impassive, standing in a salute. "When you asked to observe the child's tests, you assured us it was only to see if the child shared her mother's traits and attitudes, you told us that you would not interfere."

"I needed to know." She had stated, clearly. Ymir tightened her grip around the girl in her arms slightly.

"You unleashed a titan on a defenseless child!" Historia paused, taking a deep, calming breath. "You are hereby relieved of your duties as the director of the survey corps until further notice. You need to take some time to get your life together, Mikasa, you're only a shadow of what we once knew in the training corps."

"You are biased!" Mikasa hissed, breaking her salute to gesture at Ymir. "Your wife is one of them!"

"And your brother was one of us!" Ymir retorted angrily, speaking for the first time. Historia held up her hand in a gesture that silenced Ymir, who focused back on Mina. Mikasa seemed furious at the outburst.

"Ymir has been a loyal guard and protector of humanity, or have you forgotten her actions during the final push after Annie's escape? She singlehandedly drew the titans away from the walls - she risked her life to ensure that we had time to end this war. Yet you would isolate her as an enemy? Maybe I am close to the situation, but perhaps it is not I who is acting upon biased beliefs." She stated, ending the conversation while Ymir looked on at her wife in awe during her small, empassioned speech.

"You're making a mistake, Krista!" Mikasa warned loudly, the Queen waving for her guards to escort the shouting woman out.

Once it was silent once again, Historia approached the two, Ymir moving her arms slightly so that her wife could see the scared child. "She's shaken, but otherwise unharmed, if Mikasa had not intervened.." Historia hushed her, bending slightly to look at Mina. The child peeked out from the shoulder she was hiding in, to meet the Queen's gaze.

"Oh, sweetheart, you've had quite the difficult time since you've come to us, haven't you?" She soothed, Mina nodding but not releasing her hold on Ymir's jacket. "Hikari would like to see you, she's worried sick, would you let her?" She asked, Mina shaking her head almost immediately.

"She left." The child muttered, slightly muffled by the collar of Ymir's jacket.

"She came to get one of us." Ymir explained, rubbing a soothing circle on the child's back. "She couldn't help in any other way, she wasn't strong enough without her swords, and she can't heal super fast like me or you. Coming to us was the only thing she could do. Forgiving someone is sometimes the hardest thing we have to do, you need to be very strong to do it."

Mina pulled away slightly to look up at Ymir in mild confusion. "But Mir, I'm weak, I can't lift heavy things, or hit the bag very hard. I don't think I can do it." Ymir nodded, to show that she understood Mina's point.

"Well you see, I'm talking about a different kind of strong. You're hurt, and mad because she couldn't help you, letting go of that hurt and bad feelings takes a lot of strength from the inside, but if you can be strong enough to do that, you can forgive someone too." Mina scrunched her nose up, squeezing her eyes closed at Ymir's words.

"So like my heart? That inside?" She asked and Ymir breathed out a small chuckle.

"Exactly."

Mina sat quietly for a few minutes, little eyebrows furrowed in concentration, the two women looking on with small smiles. When the child opened her eyes again she nodded, her resolve clear in her eyes. "Okay!" She started, letting go of Ymir's jacket and slipping out of her lap. "Can I please see Hikari?" Historia smiled warmly as she nodded at one of the guards at the door. Once they were open the two Queens watched on as the young scientist scuttled in somewhat frantically, breathing a sigh of relief when her gaze landed on Mina.

"Oh! Thank Sina, Maria and Rose you're alright!" She exclaimed rushing up to the small girl, dropping to her knees and pulling the child into a tight hug. Mina seemed surprised, but still determined to say what she had to.

"You left me." She stated, Hikari pulling back to look at the child's face, hands still on her shoulders.

"Oh I know! I'm sorry Mina!" She apologised, tears brimming at the edges of her eyes while Mina just looked quite sad.

"But I forgive you." The child added and Hikari seemed surprised, simply hugging the child again, her words becoming incoherent. Ymir felt a massive amount of pride in the small girl while Historia simply seemed happy that everything was fine.

/

The next time Rosa visited the two hugged for the better part of ten minutes before they settled on Mina's bed. Rosa, who, as it turned out, was a year older, helped Mina read her mother's books. Hikari had told her daughter all about what happened, and had asked her not to focus on it. Her daughter seemed adamant on taking Mina's mind off it, and was doing an exceptional job. When it came to a discussion involving Rosa's tutors - the older girl had trouble with them, and often had angry outbursts during sessions - Mina recalled what Ymir had taught her about an inner strength.

Hikari found it somewhat sweet that Mina tried, despite the situations not being the same, but Rosa seemed to take the advice to heart. Mina had then proceeded to ask about the things Rosa learned from the sessions, the two getting into a deep discussion about basic addition and subtraction and even a bit of history. Although Hikari hadn't thought of it before, she realised that Mina had never had any education.

The next 'test' they performed was quite different. Hikari took Mina and Rosa to the Survey corps' main headquarters, a mansion-like building, complete with stables, a barn and a small vegetable garden. "Mina," Hikari had started, to get the girl's attention (she had been enthralled by these pseudo-familiar sights) "I want you to show me what you knew how to do at home."

And the child knew a lot, she started in the barn, where she cleaned out a bunch of stalls and managed to feed the pigs. She almost expertly milked the cow and then skipped happily into the stables where she groomed, fed and saddled a horse, before mucking a stall and unsaddling the horse, struggling only a bit with the weight of the tack. Annie had taught her daughter how to take care of animals, and how to get the most from each one. Mina had gone over to the garden, identifying all but one type of vegetable growing there and left it at that after she had felt the soil was damp enough so that the plants didn't need to be watered.

It was well into the afternoon when Hikari brought the child a horse. "Can you ride one?" She asked, helping the child into the saddle. She was a fair rider, struggled a bit with the rhythm of the trot and got a bit nervous with the gallop but otherwise competent, Hikari was honestly impressed with the amount of knowledge Mina had around the agricultural aspects of life, despite struggling to read and not having a clue when it came to mathematics.

She broached the subject of education for her with Historia and Ymir the next time she went to report her findings. Both Queens seemed to like the idea of getting tutors for her but declined the idea. "How would the public react if the child of a war criminal got education when most working class citizens still cannot afford education for their own children. It would look as if we were giving her luxuries unavailable to the public - who are not potential killers."

"She's not a killer though," Hikari had argued and despite agreeing with her, they held steadfast in their decision.

"We know that, but the public still do not trust her."

While Hikari delivered the news to Mina with a heavy heart, the child seemed unbothered, Rosa was even quite jealous. "Boo, I hate the tutors," she had stated, sticking out her tongue while Mina giggled.

"Maybe you can teach me the stuff you learn!" She had suggested and Rosa lit up, nodding frantically.

"Oh! Yes! I'll be a much better tutor than those old guys who teach me."

Hikari expected the agreement to last maybe one or two weeks, but months passed and the two stuck to it, toys gathering dust while the two started focusing on theory and events long before their time. A routine developed easily, a test for Mina in the morning while Rosa was learning from the tutors, and when they were done Rosa and Mina sat teaching and learning respectively until Hikari had to drag her daughter home. Once a week Ymir would visit Mina in the morning, Historia had fallen quite ill and had been confined to her bed, but Ymir kept a cheerful disposition around Mina while the girl filled the Queen in on recent tests and newly learned material.

As acting Queen, Ymir's days were stressful and pressing, but Hikari knew Mina helped Ymir relax, for just a morning, Ymir could forget her responsibilities and the stress of ruling a kingdom to spend time with what the woman was beginning to see as a child of her own. On Mina's seventh birthday they had a small celebration, Rosa had gifted her a new book, Hikari one of Rosa's old toys, a teddy bear and Ymir had brought an old package down, she had gone down to the Military Police headquarters and done a little digging, finding Annie's old training corps jacket. Mina loved it.

/

Year two wasn't any different from the first, Rosa spent her eighth birthday with Mina, the two closer than ever. While they continued focusing on their studies it seemed as if most people had forgotten about Mina, the pressure of testing being lifted significantly; allowing Mina more time to herself in the mornings.

Historia had returned to health and had retaken her place as acting Queen, Ymir relieved of that duty, and visiting more often. Mikasa had been reinstated as head of the survey corps did not have the destructive effect Hikari thought it would, the attacks on titans near the walls almost tripling over night to keep them at bay - but no internal violence. Mikasa hadn't shown any interest in Hikari, Mina or the testing.

Hikari had gotten permission to take Mina out to the stables once a month for a day the girl could do as she wished, often grooming the horses, but going riding on occasion, the members of the survey corps who saw them remained impassive of their presence - or amused as it was with one new recruit. He had been on stable duty on one of the days Hikari had brought Mina up to the building; and hadn't been told about the child.

"A little young to be a trainee, aren't ya?" He had asked the girl after seeing the old jacket, "that belong to your mom?" He had asked, inclining his head towards Hikari who chuckled, Mina nodded at the question, looking confused.

"Mina isn't my daughter." Hikari stated in a faux-offense, quite indignant.

"O-oh I meant no offense, ma'am, gosh I knew Commander Zoë had a kid but-" he had sputtered, going red up to his ears when Rosa pointed her thumb at herself from beside Hikari's left leg, Mina at the right one.

"That's quite alright Buermann, this is Mina, she comes up every month to care for the horses. Mina, this is a new recruit in the Survey corps." Hikari introduced, chuckling to drop the offended act.

"You can call me Jaun," he stated with a goofy grin at Mina before turning back to Hikari. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but do you mean M-Mina Leonhardt? Annie Leonhardt's d-daughter?" He stammered, casting another glance at the child, the jacket hanging off her scrawny frame, thin build, wide blue eyes. She seemed completely harmless, and yet all that people have told him for the last one and a half years was how this scrawny little child could be a coldblooded killer, just like her mom.

"The very same. Surprised Buermann?" Hikari challenged, Jaun nodding honestly, but deciding to change the subject anyway.

"So she comes up here every month? I'm still new to all of this." He looked back down at the tiny girl. "Can ya teach me the ropes?" He asked he kid with a sheepish look, Mina beamed at the opportunity to be the teacher instead of the student for a change. Rosa sat on the opposite stall door with her journal and pencil in hand, the rasping of lead against paper and the hum of Mina's voice lulling Hikari into a sense of normality as she watched over the small group.


	4. The feeling

**Yo, sorry for the delay, I'm thrilled people have followed this! Thanks :) and enjoy the chapter, keep in mind that I am going to be proofreading this until the next chap is up and little things may change here and there.**

 **Enjoy :)**

She took a deep breath, the smell of horse and hay flooding her senses. Her eyes were closed, spring sun comfortably warm on her face as the horse she was propped up against puffed a sigh, shifting its weight. The pressure of her mother's ring was cool and solid in her hands, in the distance she could hear the ever present, common, birdsong. It was a pretty normal day, but Mina felt right at home.

"Hey," the deep timbre of Jaun's voice startled her her finger catching the sharp edge of the ring. She hissed, eyes snapping open as she brought her bleeding finger to her lips. The ring was a gift from Rosa, who had gone to her old house for a sixteenth birthday gift. Mina shot a betrayed look at the man who chuckled at the glare. "Hey, you should be paying more attention to your surroundings. What if I had been a titan? You'd have been an early dinner!" He joked.

"Yeah ha-ha, except there's been no titans for years, so no early dinners for you, Mr. Titan." She stated somewhat irritably, her finger steaming slightly but the pain still sharp.

"Okay, okay, but you have a little blood right-" he pointed at his own lips just as the blood on Mina's started evaporating, she smirked, raising a brow. " - nevermind." He muttered dropping it. "So I haven't seen Rosa in a while.." He trailed, rubbing the back of his neck, cheeks going pink.

"Okay firstly, gross, she's still seventeen bud, secondly, she's up on wall Maria with Hikari, they've been heading up to check the structural stability, Ymir is thinking of knocking the whole thing down, build a new one, get employment up and expand for more farmland." Mina explained, "it's not like we need the walls anymore, but she's so paranoid. 'There's more, mark my words, they're laying in wait etc etc'" she strained her voice, imitating the Queen.

Jaun laughed but mussed his hair uncomfortably. "I'll never get used to hearing you use her name, or teasing her so openly." He muttered. "If I were to do that, she'd eat me!" He exclaimed and Mina waved him off, chuckling.

"Nah, Ymir's like a mom to me." She dismissed the fear, knowing the woman was just a massive softie, despite the front she put on when she took the throne. Mina was fourteen, Historia had been fighting an illness for the months leading up to the extermination of the titans, she never saw the momentous occasion, succumbing to the illness only a week before, leaving the throne to Ymir. Ymir had really stepped up after Historia's funeral, becoming a powerful ruler - if a bit harsh. "She wouldn't like the taste of you anyway, she hates horse."

He stuck his tongue out at her, but chuckled good-naturedly, tension dropping from his shoulders. For a long few moments they stood in comfortable silence, Mina allowing her eyes to drift shut again while the the rasping of Jaun's brush started up. Many days had seen similar activity, that day was no different. Mina resumed her previous task of grooming the horses while easy banter flowed between the two friends well until the sky was turning orange.

Looking out the other end of the stables Jaun grinned mischievously. Two uneasy women, each in military police uniform, were standing somewhat stiffly, looking bored. "They still not letting you walk around without your babysitters?" Jaun asked slyly, getting their attention while Mina looked a bit confused as to what he was getting at.

"Eh, no?" She answered, more a question than statement, turning to look back at the two military police assigned to watch her. She had been assigned guards at fourteen years old, when the real push to exterminate the Titans was at its peak and Hikari couldn't tend to her everyday - being survey corps herself. It was in the interest of security. She was suddenly jerked out of her thoughts by a powerful force pulling her down, buckling over. Jaun was holding her in a headlock.

"Oh no! The powerful Mina Leonhardt! She's going to kill us all! With all the power of a twelve year old!" He roared loudly over her undignified shrieking, her small fists digging into his ribs harmlessly. "Oh whatever will humanity do!?" He mock-wailed, the horse beside them rearing it's head up at the disturbance. The two military police looked mildly annoyed, both scowling at the display. Mina had already heard them complain about having her as an assignment, she really wasn't a threat, having the strength of a child; and she never did anything interesting according to them.

"Knock it off!" She shrieked angrily, stumbling back and falling over as he suddenly let her go. She glared up at him from the ground, the horse staring down at her and nudging her with it's nose. "Only the horses appreciate me, a swear to the goddesses." She muttered grumpily as she stood, a gentle hand on the horse's neck, petting its soft nose to calm herself. Jaun opened his mouth to say something else but Mina cut him off. "I'll tell Ymir on you!" She threatened and his face drained, grin falling.

She smirked, petting the horse one last time before turning with a self-satisfied grin and heading out of the stable, the military police following her while she ignored Jaun's frantic cry of "you aren't really going to tell her!? Are you?"

The ride home was peaceful, she still occasionally got startled looks from passing townspeople, but a lot of people didn't even know what she looked like anymore - or rather, what her mom looked like. Ymir had explained that Annie was before their time, but it still saddened Mina that a person, even one as infamous as her mother could be forgotten so quickly. She wondered how long it would be before people forgot Mikasa, who had died some months earlier, or even Historia, possibly the greatest ruler the kingdom had ever seen.

Thoughts turning morbid, she began wondering how Ymir was feeling, watching all of these people she once knew, even her soulmate, die, all while she was stuck, unaging. One by one her companions, friends, leaving her. Would it be like losing her mother all over again? Could Mina even comprehend the feeling? She still didn't know if she would stop aging, but if she did, would she one day have to watch her own friends die? Her thoughts immediately went to Rosa, she felt a sharp ache in her chest at the thought of anything happening to the other girl.

She thought on the two guards beside her. She hadn't really ever spoken to them, or interacted with them much, but she still found herself wondering if she would outlive them - two solid presences in her life for the last three years. She slowed her horse, prompting them to shoot a look at each other in confusion, but she pressed on, ashamed that in all this time, she had yet to speak to these two women. "You've both been assigned to me for three years of my life, and I have yet to ask your names." She explained to them while the one eyed her suspiciously.

They were both quite fair, both blonde, though one had brown eyes and one had grey. Despite the similarities though, it was quite obvious that there was no relation, one of the two had sharp, angled features, a grizzly scar dominating the left side of her face, her eyes were deep-set and overall her face was somewhat gaunt. The second, while being shorter and lighter built, had full sunny features, hair tinged with a hint of red with a small amount of freckles.

"Erika Dreyse." The smaller of the two obliged, to Mina's right. She seemed comfortable, confident, but regarded Mina carefully.

The suspicious one took a moment, eyeing both Mina and her partner, Erika, with a narrowed gaze. "Erwin Franzer." Her answer was clipped, cold and short.

'Erwin.' Mina surmised, the name ringing a bell but taking a moment to come to her. 'Like commander Erwin, the man Mikasa took over from.' Looking the hardy woman over, Mina thought that the name suited her.

While Erwin looked experienced and well into her fifties, Erika was baby-faced and unscarred, young and in a safe line of work, but still mortal. She found herself looking at the sunny faced woman and wondering if she would see her die, if she would outlive her. Shaking her head, she dispelled the dark thoughts, wondering what brought the negativity on. She still had a couple of hours, she could go see Ymir, perhaps the queen could provide some insight into her turbulent thoughts.

Turning the horse to change paths, the two behind her had to act quickly to catch the turn too, but they knew Mina wasn't trying to escape, she would go on foot if that were the case. Riding along the street, Mina looked up to the grand sight that was the castle. It was as impressive as ever, a home away from home in recent years as Ymir's duties kept her bound to palace grounds.

She wasn't even a step inside the main doors when she was suddenly spinning, Ymir holding her tight. "There's my girl!" The Queen rasped and Mina breathed a happy sigh, Ymir was her second mother, and unashamed about it, putting her down Ymir was grinning bigger than most people in her court had probably ever seen her do. Mina could see a couple of new guards gaping at the sight but Ymir didn't care at all. "I haven't seen you in what? A month? You're still so tiny!" The woman teased. Mina was five foot. She really wasn't too bad, and she still had time to grow.

Ymir really hadn't changed much in the last three years, she was still solid, eyes narrowed and intimidating but with a constant underlying sadness, dark circles around them. Losing sleep Mina assumed, at least that's what Mina had to blame for her own fatigue recently. She took the Queen's hand smiling up at her with more meaning than before, dropping it after to turn to a more formal-like tone.

"We should go to the study, I need your experience." She explained and Ymir nodded.

"Of course, I've retired from court for the day, you have me for the rest of your time." Ymir stated while leading the way, Mina only a step behind. "So what do you need?" She asked, opening the door to the study and letting Mina in, the two military police waiting outside as they often did when Mina visited Ymir.

"Well my thoughts came to a morbid place today, I began thinking about mortality and aging, and what may be in store for me in the future, Ymir, you're the only one who I can talk to about this. Will I stop aging too? Like you?" Mina asked, taking a seat in a reading chair. Ymir sat heavily in a chair opposite, fingers on her chin in thought.

"Right to the point eh? For full breed titans, everyone stops aging at different times of their lives - specifically when they transform into their titan for the first time, I was nineteen I think, if Historia had taken her family's serum she would have been stopped at fifteen. Annie was sixteen I think, although I could be wrong, I didn't know her very well. I'm still not sure you have a titan form, after all this time there's been no sign of it, even when you've had plenty of incentive."

Mina thought back to the first time she encountered a titan, feeling it's rolling hot breath on her as she ran for her life, the stench worming its way into her very skin so that even now she remembered it. She cringed, remembering when Rosa had been attacked by a rabid dog at the SC headquarters, even then there had been no transformation, and Mina had been scared for her life. She sighed, partly in relief, partly in sadness.

"You'll get there if you want it, sometimes it comes only at a life or death moment." Ymir assured and Mina sighed, because being chased around by a titan wasn't life threatening enough? Did she want it though? Was that her problem? "Don't get discouraged, you're still a child, it'll happen."

"And what if I don't want it to happen?" Mina countered though the question was legitimate. Ymir let her gaze drop.

"Then I wouldn't blame you. This life is long and hard. It would be selfish of me to wish it onto you too." Mina smiled despite herself, looking at her mother figure carefully.

"Ymir you are selfish." She retorted and it brought a smile to the older woman's face.

"Right then I'd be very sad, because I want you to stay with me." Ymir admitted with a chuckle but Mina could only offer a small smile. Ymir may have been lighthearted about it, but Mina knew just how deep the words ran. "Oh, I meant to ask you;" she suddenly changed the subject, Mina looking up at her questioningly. "I've been restless lately, losing sleep - more so than usual. Moments of panic for no reason. Have you felt anything similar?" She asked and the younger frowned.

"You think it may have something to do with our titan blood?" Ymir's unwavering gaze was all the answer she needed. "My sleeping's been off, and on occasion I've broken into a cold sweat for no reason. And just last week I looked at the walls and felt the urge to run."

Ymir looked troubled at the revelation. "The running - it's from your mother, in your blood. But, I think something's happening, something big, I just can't figure out what."

"With the titans?"

"I know you think they're all gone, but especially now, I don't believe it." She stated, standing and heading to her desk beside the study's only window. Mina watched as she grabbed some paper and began writing furiously. "I'm sending a letter to Hikari, I want her troops on the wall until this feeling passes."

"You want her on the wall for a feeling?" Mina asked, confusion written all over her tone.

"She's always believed me - she thought the victory was too easy. She's been waiting for something like this." Ymir muttered just loud enough for Mina to be able to hear it.

Mina sighed, there was no point in arguing with the older woman.

"Okay, Okay. I'd better get going then, thanks for the time, Mir." The older woman paused in her writing then, looking back to see Mina standing up. She looked saddened for a moment, but turned back to her work in determination.

"Stay safe, Mina." She responded and Mina smiled, leaving the woman to her new business. She stepped out of the study and looked at each of her guards in turn, both seemed pale, they had overheard - that much was obvious.

"Erm," Erika started, the first time she had initiated any sort of conversation. Mina looked to her curiously. "Is it true? Are the titans coming back?" She boldly asked, the older woman beside her looking annoyed at the question.

"I'm not sure. I hope not." Mina replied, heading to the entrance hall with the two right on her heels.

"You've met one, right? A titan I mean?" She asked, again boldly, Erwin sighing now.

"When I was a child. It tried to eat me." Erika shuddered at the thought, but Erwin seemed mildly interested now.

"You're a titan are you not? Your mother was one." The grizzly woman spoke for the first time, startling Mina slightly.

"My mom was one, yeah, I never saw it though. As for me, I've never been able to trigger a transformation, not even when a five meter titan was trying to kill me." She explained.

"Maybe your transformation needs another kind of trigger." Erika interjected. Mina was about to dismiss this, but gave pause. It was an interesting thought.

"You want me to transform?" She asked the freckled girl.

"I've never seen a titan in the flesh, I was just a recruit when they were eradicated." She explained and both Mina and Erwin grew solemn.

"You don't want to see one." Erwin grunted, Mina nodding in agreement. She looked at the grump of a woman in a newfound appreciation - she had probably even killed a titan before, something Mina doubted she could ever do.

Once they were outside they mounted their horses normally and began home in a leisurely trot, they had lapsed into silence again but Mina knew both MP's were thankful for it.. Or at least Erwin was, nothing seemed to really bother Erika much - hell, she seemed to have already forgotten about the discussion she had overheard.

They were on the street leading to where Mina was kept when they ran into another Military Police, a high rank if the two beside her were anything to go by - both scrambling to salute once they had dismounted their horses. Mina got off her own somewhat curiously, she had never seen this man before.

"You two," he was barking. "You're being re-stationed for tonight, up on the walls." He ordered while both kept their rigid salute. "Get the prisoner inside and head to your new posts." And with that he turned and headed back to his business.

The two seemed just as confused as Mina about this development, but led her inside and into her cell. While before Mina would have turned away immediately, she lingered, somehow this time seemed different. She felt like she owed them something.

"Good luck." Was what she said, the words tasted weird and unnatural, but they seemed to appreciate it. Maybe this felt off to them too.

/

It was nearing midnight when Mina was jolted awake into a state of confusion. She hadn't had a nightmare, her cell looked the same as always, her mother's hoodie draped over the end of her bed, half a dozen books on her desk and the dim light of the window above just illuminating the cell enough so that she could see that there was nothing out of place.

But panic gripped her, her stomach churning so that she was sure she was going to be sick. Something was wrong, so very wrong. She got out of bed, pulling the hoodie over her head and shrugging on her mother's old jacket, heading over to the end of the cell to grip the cool bars.

She ended up pacing, for hours it seemed, restless and agitated for what seemed like no reason. Her skin felt itchy and hot, but it wasn't until she heard an inhuman shriek, one that shook the earth so that dust sailed down from the cell's ceiling, that she knew her restlessness and agitation had validation.

She was stuck, stuck when the cries and screams of people started, stuck when the crumbling of buildings and tremors in the earth had her struggling to stay upright, even when a mass of flesh struck the building she was in, tearing down half the walls until Mina could see the disappearing stars up above.

But Mina wasn't looking at the stars, but rather the face of an eerily familiar creature, it's twisted smile unsettling and fear inducing, it's lifeless eyes wide in an echo of hunger. The rubble around it obscured Mina's view to the street beyond, but what she could see was the corpses of people she vaguely recognised, and blood.

The titans were back.


End file.
